COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado (November 29, 2017)
The annual tradition that is the Winter Airgun Championships (WAG) kicks off Friday in Colorado Springs with a record number of competitors vying not only for WAG glory, but potential starting slots at major matches on the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) calendar in 2018.
More than 400 competitors have signed up to compete in the three-day Air Rifle and Air Pistol match that will take place at the Olympic Shooting Center and temporary ranges on the Olympic Training Center complex through Sunday. This match will also serve as Part One of Two in the selection process for upcoming ISSF World Cups, Championship of the Americas (CAT Games) and the ISSF World Championship. Part Two of Airgun selection will take place at the Spring Selection Match, March 26-30 in Fort Benning, Georgia.
Men’s and Women’s Air Pistol competition will be sure to showcase the up-and-coming talent within the Pistol ranks with 108 competitors ready to step to the line. Last year’s cumulative winner in the women’s competition and National Championship silver medalist Alexis Lagan (Boulder City, Nevada) will look to build on her two silvers and one gold from the previous year’s match. Lagan most recently was the top finisher at the Dixie Double match earlier this month.
Also competing will be 2012 Olympian and reigning Women’s Air Pistol National Champion Sandra Uptagrafft (Phenix City, Alabama, pictured) and this year’s National Championship bronze medalist, Susan Brown (Kimberly, Idaho). On the Junior side, Junior National Champion Rachel Cantrell (Boise, Idaho), National Junior Olympic Shooting Championships (NJOSC) winner Kellie Foster (Rockdale, Texas) and Sarah Choe (Los Angeles, California) will be names to watch. Choe shared the highest Junior Qualification score at last year’s Winter Airgun Championships, as well as won silver at NJOSC and finished in eighth place at the ISSF Junior World Championship for Rifle/Pistol this summer in Suhl, Germany.
On the men’s side, last year’s cumulative winner and 2016 Olympian Will Brown (Twin Falls, Idaho) will once again compete, along with his brother and former Junior standout Wyatt (Twin Falls, Idaho). National Champion James Hall (Anniston, Alabama), Junior National Champion Tony Chung (Diamond Bar, California) and NJOSC Champion Jack Leverett (Bainbridge, Georgia) are also slated to compete. Joining them on the firing line will be 2012 Olympian Nick Mowrer (Butte, Montana), as well as Rapid Fire Pistol specialist Keith Sanderson (Colorado Springs, Colorado). The three-time Olympian in Rapid Fire Pistol finished in sixth place in Men’s Air Pistol at the 2012 Olympic Trials.
The Winter Airgun Championships includes two separate match days in Men’s and Women’s Air Rifle and Air Pistol, to include Junior competition as well. Awards will be given upon the conclusion of each match day. New to this year’s match will be a Mixed Team Event for each of the disciplines on Sunday. All competitors will shoot 40 shots in Qualification with the top man/top woman, second-place man/second-place woman and so forth down to five teams paired up as teams to compete in the Team Final.
Stay tuned Thursday for our preview of Air Rifle competition.
Schedule for the Winter Airgun Championships: http://www.usashooting.org/library/Comp ... hedule.pdf.
Live targets can be found here starting Friday morning: http://results.megalink.no/#/. Tune into www.usashooting.org and/or follow all the USA Shooting social media channels for event news, notes, results and photos. FACEBOOK | TWITTER | INSTAGRAM | FLICKR (USA Shooting).